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In a follow-up to the Favorite Actresses episode, the guys now talk about their favorite actors. Joe and Michael bust out their Michael Caine impressions. Jared geeks out over the Blade Runner 2049 trailer.

It’s no secret to regular listeners that Michael, Jared, and Joe are wary of the incoming U.S. president and his administration. Just before the inauguration, the guys, in the most overtly political RF episode to date, reveal their top five films for the Trump Era. Joe uses one of his selections as a stealth recommendation. Michael asks everyone to check their news sources.

The guys discuss that disease that overtakes us all when we are really anticipating a new film: “Festival Fever.” It can strike at the Austin Film Festival or in your own home town theatre on a typical Friday night… it all depends on how great your expectations are.

The guys wrap up their 2012 Oscar preview and predictions. Jared expresses his frustrations over the omission of Kathryn Bigelow from the Best Director category and Joe verbally punches Quvenzhané Wallis in her six year-old face.

The guys preview the 2012 Academy Awards and give their predictions for the winners. Jared goes on a spectacular rant about the fallacy of the Best Foreign Film category and Michael explains his problems with comparing ZERO DARK THIRTY and DJANGO UNCHAINED for Best Original Screenplay. If you’ve got money riding on an Oscar pool this year, listen to these guys and “bet the house!”

For the first ten months of 2012, I was convinced this was a very weak year for cinema. A handful of acclaimed European films from respected directors (Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Béla Tarr, Nuri Bilge Ceylan) didn’t live up to expectations. Some respected American independent filmmakers (Whit Stillman, David Cronenberg, Todd Solondz, Spike Lee) underwhelmed. And the notable summer movies (The Dark Knight Rises, Prometheus, The Avengers, Brave, The Amazing Spider-Man, Ted, Lawless, The Campaign, The Bourne Legacy) didn’t satisfy. (I should point out that many of those same pictures were well received by critics, audiences, or both, so I guess I was alone in this regard.) Adding to this sense of disappointment was a growing list of titles pushed back to 2013—new works from Alfonso Cuarón, Nicolas Winding Refn, Wong Kar-wai, Terrence Malick, Derek Cianfrance, Baz Luhrmann, and the Coen brothers; not to mention the foreign holdovers set for 2013 releases in the States, like Beyond the Hills, No, Reality, Mekong Hotel, Like Someone in Love, Pieta, and Berberian Sound Studio. Continue reading “Jared’s Top Films of 2012” »

On one hand, people are wringing their hands about the imminent “death” of the cinematic form, but on the other hand, Hollywood had a record year at the box office. Fewer and fewer big-budget event movies are made, yet this year boasted an impressive, varied crop of quality documentaries and independent projects. DVD sales and rentals have gone down, but there’s an unprecedented level of availability thanks to streaming services like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu. Huge blockbusters like The Dark Knight Rises buckled under the weight of expectations, yet highly anticipated movies like Zero Dark Thirty managed to build and then surpass high expectations. Most filmmakers have converted to digital – even the mercurial Leos Carax – but 35mm purists like Christopher Nolan and Quentin Tarantino won’t give up celluloid until you pry it from their cold dead hands. Continue reading “Pudas’ Top Ten Movies of 2012” »